


Fantasy AU - Merpeople

by FireFaceOutlook



Series: ZoLu Week, 2k17 [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Day 1, Gen, ZoLu Week, ZoLu Week 2k17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 22:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11472900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireFaceOutlook/pseuds/FireFaceOutlook
Summary: “I trust you, Luffy.”





	Fantasy AU - Merpeople

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N: Welcome to Day 1 of ZoLu Week, 2k17! I hope everyone enjoys this little ficlet. It kind of moves along quickly, but I think I did alright.**

When Zoro woke, he was disorientated; the burning of his lungs and pounding of his head didn't help matters. He couldn't summon the energy to open his eyes or even move as he tried to figure out why he felt like Hell. There were voices murmuring nearby – he couldn't make out any words, but one in particular stuck out to him, a voice that seemed to be directed towards him rather than around him. But he couldn't manage to keep a grasp on his consciousness and sunk back into the realm of dreams.

His second time waking up was much more successful. His lungs didn't feel like they were shredded anymore and while he still had a headache, it was durable. His eyes fluttered open and he gazed blankly at the light blue ceiling above him. Nope, that definitely wasn't the color of his bedroom ceiling, or that of any of his friends' living room ceilings (not that he remembered, anyway, from the times he slept on their couches after long days). He slowly sat up and looked down at himself, blanching. He had been stripped down at some point; his haramaki was gone, along with his swords _which he always had_ , and he knew he didn't own any eyesores like the bright yellow shirt he was clad in. At least his pants were still his own, but he could feel bandages around his left thigh, so they had to have come off at some point. He shuddered slightly at the thought. There were also bandages peering out of the short sleeves of the shirt, too, and tugging at the collar, he found that his whole torso was swathed, with a line of pink (blood?) stretching from his collarbone to the opposite hip. Just what the Hell had happened to him?

Voices outside the door of the room he was in caught his attention and he frantically looked around for an escape route, but there were no windows or vents to make use of. The door clicked open and Zoro's attention was drawn to it. He swore his eyes were going to roll out of his head with how wide they grew from the sight of the _creatures_ entering.

The creature in the lead was more humanoid than his companion. His skin was a pale pink, as if he'd sat under hot water for too long. He was wearing blue shorts and a dark red shirt that was unbuttoned, revealing a maroon colored scar in the shape of an 'x'. He had black hair that peered out from beneath a worn straw hat, and another scar stretching beneath his left eye.

Following behind was another being with normal, pale skin and blond hair that hid his right eye (his visible one being blue? green? Zoro couldn't tell from the distance). That was where his human similarities ended, however. He also had webbed fingers and from waist-down, he had a _tail_. It resembled that of a shark Zoro had seen on tv during shark week before – a thresher shark, with the end of the tail being long and whip-like. He had a large bubble around his waist, keeping him upright, and as he spoke, Zoro caught flashes of many sharp teeth and swallowed thickly.

"Okay, so you panicked and kissed the human so he wouldn't drown, but we can't keep him and he can't leave if he knows about us merpeople, so what are we going to do? Luffy, if your brothers ever find out that I'm helping you hide him...”

Zoro blanked out for a moment, focusing on two things: merpeople were _real_ , and apparently the one with the pink skin had _kissed him_. Well, it seemed to have been for the purpose of saving his life, so he could probably let it slide, but that didn't mean he had to like it. (Kuina would be laughing so hard at him.) Before the two could continue speaking, Zoro cleared his throat. The one that was called Luffy whipped around to face him while the blond jumped slightly.

“You're awake!” Luffy cheered, beaming widely and revealing that he, too, had teeth perfectly suited for tearing out Zoro's throat. The green-haired man couldn't help but notice, also, that Luffy's ears were spiky and webbed, similar to his fingers, and twitched as he turned back to his companion. “See, Sanji? I told you he wouldn't die! And he didn't even scream like Vivi did!”

 _Ha, as if I would ever sink so low as to scream, even if they may be planning on eating me,_ Zoro thought.

Sanji didn't look half as thrilled as Luffy. “Sure, that's great, Lu, but seriously, about his situation—”

“We can just let him go,” the straw hatted boy decided with a shrug. “I mean, he's not gonna tell anyone. Right?” This was directed back towards Zoro with a wide-eyed look of complete trust that made him feel guilty for even _considering_ saying 'no' to see what would happen. 

“Right,” he agreed weakly.

Sanji's eye narrowed at him and that solidified Zoro's assumption of him being part shark because that gaze was absolutely predatory. “Why were you even in the middle of the ocean?” he asked.

Luffy took a seat at the end of the bed, the expression of an excited puppy on his face. “Yeah! Tell me about your adventures!”

 _Adventures?_ Zoro wracked his brain for the events between being on vacation with Usopp and Nami and waking up wherever he was now.

“I don't remember,” he admitted. “I...”

_**“Usopp, take Nami and run!”** _

_**Pain, being dragged, then...** _

_**“You bastard. Enjoy being fish food.”** _

_**There was water all around him, the muffled sound of a boat engine, and he couldn't breathe. He was going to die and**_ **holy shit, something just touched his foot! _Then he was face-to-face with someone, but he couldn't make out their features because his vision was going blurry and dark, and his heartbeat was pounding sluggishly in his ears. His nose was squeezed by fingers with too-sharp nails and something cold touched his lips and air filled his lungs, but it was too late and he went unconscious._**

“My friends were in danger,” he muttered, realizing Sanji and Luffy were gazing at him expectantly. “I usually can swim, but...” He raised a hand to his head and found bandages around it. That explained the lingering headache. “And you saved me,” he said to Luffy, adding with a slightly dip of his head, “Thank you.”

Luffy seemed to preen happily at the gratitude, but then his expression turned serious – it was both out-of-place on such a previously excited person, but at the same time fit well into his personality.

“Do you know if your friends got away?”

“I don't know. My phone...” His hands slid to his pockets, but they were empty. “Where--”

“I'll go get your belongings – what survived your descent here, anyway.” Sanji turned and left the room and as he did, Zoro noticed that the open doorway seemed to ripple around him, and when he was in the hall, the bubble popped and Sanji swam away.

Feeling his headache threatening to grow into a migraine at having to accept so much unconventional information, Zoro decided to get the rest out of the way while he could.

“Where am I?”

“Fishman Island,” Luffy replied. “I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm a Fishman. That was Sanji, and he's a merman.”

Right. So not only are mermaids (and men) real, but there are also Fishmen, who seemed to be more humanoid in some ways. And they have an island that's called Fishman Island, and it's...

“Are we underwater?” Zoro asked.

Luffy gave him an incredulous look. “Are you stupid?”

Well, Zoro had to give him that – it was kind of a dumb question. After all, if they weren't underwater, there wouldn't be water filling the hallway. But why wasn't the room full of water, then? As if reading his mind, Luffy continued on with another explanation.

“We have air pockets. In fact, most of the island is made of air pockets. We have a water-controlling thingy that can fill and drain parts of Fishman Island with water. People with tails like Sanji use bubbles to get around in the air bubbles.”

It was a lot to take in, but Zoro felt like he was understanding everything. In that moment, Sanji came back and Luffy got up to take the items – stored in a bubble – from him as he made a new bubble... Was that coming out of coral? ...around his waist. Luffy popped the bubble and set Zoro's three swords, haramaki, phone, and torn shirt on the bed in front of him. Unsheathing each of his swords, Zoro was relieved to find that they weren't rusted or chipped at all. His haramaki was in one piece, while his previously white shirt was torn apart and stained with blood.

“You were really hurt when I found you,” Luffy explained. “You were lucky I found you first, too, because I passed a lot of hungry sharks on my way to you.”

He and Sanji exchanged a glance and Zoro felt a little less safe in Sanji's presence, but he tried not to think too much on that as he picked up his phone. To his surprise, it turned on, and even had service. But then again, merpeople were supposed to be mythical, so maybe it was due to magic? He dialed Nami's number, since she was more in the habit of answering her phone than Usopp, but it went straight to voicemail. Usopp's was the same way.

“I think they got caught,” he muttered, glaring at his phone and wishing he could've done something instead of being taken out and dragged to the bottom of the ocean.

“Yosh, let's go rescue your nakama,” Luffy decided, pounding a fist into the center of the other palm.

Sanji and Zoro both stared blankly at him.

“What?” they both asked – well, Sanji demanded in a pissed tone and Zoro croaked in disbelief.

“Zoro, you're my respon... re...” Luffy looked at Sanji helplessly.

“Responsibility,” Sanji said, then shook his head. “Luffy, we're not going! He's not allowed to leave!”

“Sanji!” Luffy leaped over to him and grabbed his shoulders. “This is our chance to get out of here and go on a real adventure! And besides, if I'm with Zoro, he's not really leaving, is he? And you're my nakama, so you have to come with me.”

“What kind of half-brained logic is that!?” Sanji huffed, brushing Luffy's hands off of him.

“Zoro is gonna be our nakama, Sanji,” Luffy declared seriously. “And that means his nakama are also our own. _Please_ , come with us, Sanji.”

Sanji looked like he wanted to punch Luffy, or bite him, or whatever merpeople do to show their displeasure when they're part shark. But he sighed, glancing at Zoro and seeming to appraise him for a moment before relenting.

“Fine. But only because _you're_ my nakama, Luffy.”

Luffy cheered as Sanji reentered the hallway, muttering something about preparing food and supplies.

“Don't worry, Zoro,” Luffy said as the human slid out of the bed, stretching and testing the range of his movement with the bandages. “We'll get your nakama back.”

He grinned a thousand watt, razor sharp smile and Zoro couldn't help but smirk back as he donned his haramaki and slid his swords into place.

“I trust you, Luffy.”

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N: Okay, so in this AU, mercreatures live for hundreds of years, like vampires (+ etc.) do. But in human years, Luffy is the same age as Zoro (19) and Sanji is older than them (21). Also, Sanji has a problem with humans, have you noticed? If I continue this, I may get around to full explaining that.**


End file.
